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Failed by Ottawa, former refugee deserves justice

Fleeing from torture in Turkey, Suleyman Goven was treated with undue suspicion by the Canadian government for nearly two decades. Now he deserves his day in court.

The handling of Suleyman Goven's application for permanent residence over the course of 13 years resulted in numerous breaches of his human rights, writes Renu Mandhane. (Tony Bock / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Renu Mandhane

Mon., April 28, 2014

Suleyman Goven is no stranger to struggle — it seems to follow him wherever he goes. As a Kurdish engineer and union organizer, he fled to Canada and was granted asylum 21 years ago after enduring imprisonment and torture in Turkey. More than 20 years later, Goven suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. However, his nightmares today do not take place in a Turkish jail cell, but rather in the interrogation rooms and courthouses of his adopted country, Canada.

Goven was granted Canadian citizenship two years ago. However, the handling of his application for permanent residence over the course of 13 years resulted in numerous breaches of his human rights. Monday, the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law filed a complaint on Goven’s behalf with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The complaint alleges that Canada violated Goven’s rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and focuses on breach of the right to a fair hearing and effective remedy.

Approximately a year and a half after Goven filed his application for permanent residence, he was interviewed by CSIS, Canada’s spy agency. This first interview was just the beginning of a Kafkaesque nightmare wherein Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) refused to make a decision on Goven’s permanent residence application while CSIS investigated him as a possible terrorist, namely, a member of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).

The PKK is a political and militant organization in Turkey involved in the struggle for self-determination of the Turkish Kurds, and which has been engaged in armed action against the Turkish government. Goven was not a member of the PKK and did not know anyone in Canada who was a member.

With no word on the status of his permanent residency application for four years, Goven filed a complaint with the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the watchdog agency for CSIS. After a 15-day hearing chaired by Bob Rae, SIRC issued a report in April 2000 — seven years after Goven’s initial application for permanent residence — and concluded that Goven did not pose a threat to Canada’s national security. It recommended that he be granted permanent residence immediately. SIRC also found serious wrongdoing on the part of CIC, including falsification of a key document.

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But the nightmare continued. Instead of following SIRC’s recommendation, the government of Canada renewed its investigation into Goven and spent another six years trying to prove his ties to the PKK, ultimately without success.

During this 13-year delay, Goven put his life on hold: unable to obtain travel documents to see his family or to obtain the certification needed so he could resume his career as an engineer. He minimized contact with the Kurdish community in Canada in the hope that he could demonstrate to the government that he had no ties to the PKK. His psychological condition deteriorated and his nightmares continued.

In 2005, Goven attempted to sue the government of Canada for negligence and breach of his Charter rights. His case did not proceed because Canadian courts have found that individuals like Goven — whose permanent resident applications have languished for years and who have been seriously harmed as a result — do not have any right to a civil remedy.

This is problematic because the handling of Goven’s case highlights larger systemic issues within Canada’s immigration system, namely: a waste of tax payer money on seemingly endless investigations into “terrorists” that drag on for years while unearthing little or no new information, a lack of communication and mutual respect between key government agencies (namely CSIS and CIC), and ultimately a lack of accountability to key stakeholders (citizens who place their faith in these organizations to identify real threats to Canada’s security, and refugees fleeing persecution who rely on them to process their claims in a timely manner).

In filing his claim with the UN, Goven is seeking accountability for those who remain caught in the impenetrable and secretive bureaucracy of Canada’s spy and immigration agencies, and like him are unable to hold those who seriously mismanage cases accountable. Surely after 20 years Goven deserves his day in court.

Renu Mandhane is director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

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